Cost of myringotomy

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Orski

Post   » Sun Sep 25, 2022 3:17 pm


My 18 month old female guinea pig has otitis media. She was seen by our vet yesterday (9/24/22), who took x-rays of her head. The problem is very obvious on the x-rays. The vet said she may need a myringotomy, but our vet is not capable of doing this procedure. She said it requires specialized equipment which she does not have. The vet prescribed a pain killer and an antibiotic. We are located in northwest Pennsylvania. Does anyone have a ballpark idea of what this procedure could cost? Thank you.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sun Sep 25, 2022 3:38 pm


I'm not familiar with that procedure, and a quick search here on the forum and on Google seem to indicate it might not be very widely performed in guinea pigs due to difficulty finding small enough instruments. How severe is your pig's condition? Might the vet consider antibiotics as a first line of treatment ?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Sep 25, 2022 5:59 pm


I was not familiar with the treatment either. Had to do a search - did find an article claiming it was a simple procedure, ran across a comment somewhere saying it would heal up in only a day or two so perhaps not provide much relief, and another describing a thermal procedure that stayed open longer.

One thing I was trying to ascertain was where the vets who did these procedures are located. If they have regular practices and were accessible, maybe they could perform the procedure or recommend someone to do so. It appears only one article I found was fairly recent and had contact info.

Myringotomy as a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Tool in a Case of Otitis Media in a Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus)
https://www.primescholars.com/articles/ ... 94200.html
Householder HM, Berger DJ, Noxon JO and Zaffarano BA*
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Iowa State University, 1800 Christensen Drive, Ames, IA 50011, USA

Here's some contact info and a summary of one article:

*Corresponding Author:
  • Bianca Zaffarano
  • Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
  • Iowa State University, 1800 Christensen Drive
  • Ames, IA 50011, USA
  • Tel: 515-294-4900
  • E-mail: bazaff03@iastate.edu
Abstract:
A 1.5 year old male adult guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) presented with acute vestibular disease, consisting of a right head tilt, circling, and ataxia. The head tilt was non-responsive to initial empirical antimicrobial therapy for presumptive otitis media. Video otoscopy and a myringotomy were performed under general anesthesia. A large amount of purulent debris was flushed from the middle ear and submitted for culture. Treatment with appropriate systemic and topical antibiotics was pursued for 4 weeks. Near complete resolution of clinical signs was achieved by the end of treatment with only a minor residual head tilt. This is the first described use of a diagnostic and therapeutic myringotomy for the treatment and resolution of otitis media in a guinea pig. Based on the clinical success seen in this case and the relative ease of the procedure, myringotomies should be considered for diagnosis and treatment of otitis media in guinea pigs.
Here's an article from 1987 that describes success using thermal myringotomy in guinea pigs.

Thremal [sic] myringotomy in guinea pies[sic]
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 June 2007
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 8C306B2207

Since heat cauterized the incision, it stayed open longer but healed just fine. Text is an image.

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